The Eel River has stopped flowing - 9/3/14 - Stienstra's on it - help blow it up

Thanks Eric. I remember, and I'm sure you do too, that Humboldt County Fair time (late August) was also the time to hit the 12th Street hole and below for half pounders. The river was absolutely full of them. An occasional 3-5 lb. steelhead mixed in.

This tears my heart out.

NotaSeal

So does tom steinstra read NCKA?  He posted this vid to sfgate.com at 5pm today.

There's similar conditions in most of the small coastal creeks in Mendocino County from Usal down to Navarro.  This is a bad drought, and it's been going for two seasons.  For coho it's been disastrous.

During really dry spells the first places to go dry are low in the watershed, where the channel is wide and there is lots of gravel-cobble substrate.  The river is still flowing, but it's flowing subsurface.  Bad for fish.

Pray for rain.

What does the Eel have besides Pillsbury to store water? The water going into the Russian comes from Pillsbury I think. Is that right? So the south fork and the north fork have no diversion? Is that right?

That's correct, Craig.  The middle fork (Yolla Bolly Wilderness) and the south fork (drainages up through Legget, Willits, Laytonville...etc.) do not have diversions and could certainly dry up in a year like this.

Fact:  oldgrowth drainages are still leaking water out - intact forests do hold water.

Fact:  the main stem, fed by Pillsbury, is anchored by 7000+' peaks in the Snow Mountain Wilderness, north of Clear Lake.  Lots of water is diverted south to Mendo, Sonoma and Marin counties.

This is a tough situation, and I'll be on a fact finding mission, documenting conditions on the river and giving other information as I can.

here`s more.....not sure if this is old info ..but i`ll put it up anyway            :    The Eel River originates on the southern flank of 6,740-foot (2,050 m) Bald Mountain, in the Upper Lake Ranger District of the Mendocino National Forest in Mendocino County.[2] The river flows south through a narrow canyon in Lake County before entering Lake Pillsbury, the reservoir created by Scott Dam. Below the dam the river flows west, re-entering Mendocino County. At the small Cape Horn Dam about 15 miles (24 km) east of Willits, water is diverted from the Eel River basin through a 1-mile (1.6 km) tunnel to the Russian River, in a scheme known as the Potter Valley Project.

You can't mess with mother nature. The water runs where it is suppose to. And now we are paying for all the diversions. NOW WHAT?

Thanks for the vid Eric.
Bottom line..we are all FUBAR.

http://www.cnn.com/interactive/2014/09/opinion/endangered-river-ctl/


 Here is another one. That is a great little vid you put together. This years run is doomed. Its sad to know that economy trumps nature. This year will change a lot of peoples lives. Lost farms. Dead fish. Read the one I posted in its entirety.

 

Thanks for this link.  Ryan Hollister, the teacher from Turlock mentioned in the article, is my cousin.  Great article.

Very disheartening. When you see things like this, the factors facing the State's salmonid populations really hit home. Reminds me of why set out to earn a degree in environmental science in the first place. Even worse, it reminds me that I haven't put that degree to use in the fashion that I set out to. 

Kudos to you, Eric, for being out there and working as an advocate for these rivers. Your work should really be commended.

Thank you for helping me get the word out on this.

I know my vids are amateurish - I don't care! 

Get the word out - we need to pay attention to how we're not taking care of our own habitat!

Aw man
This is terrible.
I saw this 1st hand yesterday while hiking around the headwaters of the Gualala.
Creeks that normally flow due to springs and aquifer are now dried up. The occasional pool that I did find had steelhead smolt belly up or dying. Depressing
Thanks for sharing Eric. 

This worries me for all the young kids who haven't gotten too see it all before... Things have got too change before it's too late.

What does the Eel have besides Pillsbury to store water? The water going into the Russian comes from Pillsbury I think. Is that right? So the south fork and the north fork have no diversion? Is that right?

That's correct, Craig.  The middle fork (Yolla Bolly Wilderness) and the south fork (drainages up through Legget, Willits, Laytonville...etc.) do not have diversions and could certainly dry up in a year like this.

Fact:  oldgrowth drainages are still leaking water out - intact forests do hold water.

Fact:  the main stem, fed by Pillsbury, is anchored by 7000+' peaks in the Snow Mountain Wilderness, north of Clear Lake.  Lots of water is diverted south to Mendo, Sonoma and Marin counties.

This is a tough situation, and I'll be on a fact finding mission, documenting conditions on the river and giving other information as I can.

Most of the late summer flow relies on the snowy mountain wilderness.

So do you blame the diversion at van arsdale or the water thieving dope growers?

I'm pretty sure the amount of eel water used by grape growers is orders of magnitude larger than what's used for humboldt agriculture. (In no way does that excuse irresponsible use by humboldt ag)

The current drought probably has something to do with it too. Would it be possible to move fish to the lower river or estuary? Because that water is going to get hot & stagnant quick.

Completely different area, watershed, etc... but I know the drought is the main reason why the Carmel River (above Los Padres res) is dried up for the 1st time in decades. http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/blogs/news_blog/drought-watch-carmel-river-goes-dry-above-los-padres-dam/article_17bc6adc-2d90-11e4-8c51-001a4bcf6878.html?mode=jqm 

Of course the drought is the main factor, but my point is that we have not acted in a way that protects the river when everyone could see this coming. 

PG&E is supposed to let a certain amount of water go down the Eel, and it is not happening as mandated - surprise surprise...
 

Of course the drought is the main factor, but my point is that we have not acted in a way that protects the river when everyone could see this coming. 

PG&E is supposed to let a certain amount of water go down the Eel, and it is not happening as mandated - surprise surprise...
 

It's especially unfortunate that recent public outcry has not been "lets look a little deeper at how we use our water and where we send it," but rather "we should be spending more on the construction of diversions, dams, and water storage." Classic investment in a cure rather than prevention.